Thursday, September 09, 2010

"Jackson's Sunshine"

Karma. I love karma. Do a little bit of good, get a little bit of good back. It's like the barter system on the most basic level, and it's something I can get on board with.

Karma manifests itself differently for everyone. Me? I have parking karma. No matter how busy the street, the mall, the whatever, there is always a parking spot for me very close to the door. Which is good, since I'm usually toting a kid or two, maybe a dog, and invariably some other armful of something that I'm picking up or dropping off. I am very happy with the way that karma returns it's blessings to me, and when the parking spots start to dwindle, I know I'm either being a jerk, or it's time to build up my karmic stash again, and I better get busy.

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Griffin goes to daycare with a little dude named Jackson. Griffin and Jackson are buddies, but they are very similar in personalities - both headstrong, stubborn and the bruisers of the bunch, so they sometimes end up butting heads, often literally. I have a soft spot for Jackson though, I see a lot of Griffin in him - he's a true rough and tumble boy, with a heart of gold underneath that tough exterior.

Jackson is also one of those kids who has the unfortunate privilege of knowing the inside of Sick Kids Hospital way too well. He has Hydrocephalus, and has had more surgeries in his short three years than most of us will have in a lifetime. Or three lifetimes. So when his mom sent out an email looking for donations for a silent auction to benefit Hydrocephalus research at Sick Kids, I knew I had to help.This quilt was more than a silent auction prize for me. I challenged myself to free-motion quilt the entire thing, which I have never done before, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I started it plenty in advance, spent some time picking out some GREAT fabric, took my time, and did it all right, with no shortcuts, and no rushing to finish. I tried (and think I succeeded) to make this quilt gender neutral, to make it more appealing to everyone. I used every last scrap of the 6 fat quarters that I purchased, and carried it over onto the back with a quilted strip that I love love love!I feel like I've taken my quilting skills to the next level with this quilt, and I'm stoked to do more. I have a pile of fabric upstairs that I bought two years ago to make a quilt for Griffin, and now I'm glad that I waited to cut into it. I also have a stack of fabric ready for Corben, and I'm excited about it too. (SOCK MONKEYS!) And as a result of posting the quilt photos, I have requests for more!I'm glad I took up the challenge to make this quilt. It's brought me to a new place in my quilting journey. It's hopefully going to fetch a pretty penny at the silent auction and benefit a great cause. And, I figure it should be good for a few really good parking spots!

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About Me

We're just a couple of folks (and a dog) who decided to leave our little apartment in Toronto's Parkdale for greener pastures (literally!) We now live in a spot that we simply refer to as Paradise. There's some sewing that happens here, some moanings and complainings, some old fashioned country goodness, a few very cute blondes, and a whole lotta love. These are our stories.